Do riders need to install anything?

No. A posted QR code opens the survey in the phone's browser. There is no app, no account, and no login step — which matters enormously for completion rate when you are asking someone to participate during a ten-minute bus ride.

How does kiosk mode work?

Kiosk mode runs one survey full-screen and unattended on a tablet. After each respondent submits, it resets automatically for the next person, and leaving kiosk mode requires a code so a passer-by cannot wander into the rest of the device. Pair it with iPad Guided Access or Windows Assigned Access to lock the hardware down entirely.

Are QR responses anonymous?

By default, yes — a rider who scans a posted code has no identity attached. If you want identity, enable the pre-survey profile step and ask for an email address; the post-submit confirmation email then carries a one-click verification link. You control which profile fields appear and which are required, so you can ask for zip code only, or email only, or nothing at all.

What stops one person filling it in repeatedly?

Where an email address is collected, TIPS deduplicates on it across every channel — so the same rider scanning an onboard code and clicking an email invitation counts once. For fully anonymous collection there is no way to identify a repeat respondent by design, which is the trade you make for the higher response rate. Kiosk mode mitigates it in the physical world by resetting between respondents in a staffed setting.

Can we still use paper?

Yes. Every survey has a print view that lays all questions out on one continuous page for paper collection, including static map images for route questions since a live map obviously will not print. Paper responses get keyed in afterward through the same survey.

Where should the QR codes actually go?

The pattern that works is placement where a rider is already stationary and slightly bored: seat backs and stanchions on the vehicle, shelter panels and platform signage at stops, and the back of transfer slips or fare media. Put the survey's purpose in one line next to the code — scan rates drop sharply when the code has no stated reason attached to it.

← Solutions

Onboard and Intercept Survey Software

The riders whose opinions matter most are the ones who will never visit your website, join your email list, or attend a Tuesday evening meeting. You reach them where they already are — on the vehicle, on the platform, at the event — or you don't reach them at all.

In short. Posted QR codes open the survey in the rider's browser with no app and no login. Unattended tablet kiosks collect walk-up responses at stations and open houses, auto-resetting between respondents and code-gated on exit. A printable view covers paper fallback. Everything lands in one dataset.

Why intercept still wins on sample quality

Every self-selected online survey has the same bias: it hears from people motivated enough to seek it out. For a satisfaction study or a service change that skews the result toward the highly engaged and the highly annoyed, and away from the routine rider who is basically fine and has no reason to look for a survey. Intercept collection cuts against that bias directly — you are sampling from people who are physically using the service right now.

The historical objection to intercept was cost: it meant staff with clipboards. Posted QR codes and unattended kiosks get most of the sampling benefit without the field labor, and they scale to every vehicle in the fleet for the price of printing.

Channels

Four ways in, one dataset out.

Posted QR codes

Seat backs, stanchions, shelter panels, platform signage. Opens in the browser, works on any phone, no install.

Tablet kiosk mode

One survey, full screen, unattended. Auto-resets after each submit; exiting takes a code. Lock the device with Guided Access.

Direct links

A plain URL for social posts, rider alerts, on-vehicle screens, and anywhere a code isn't practical.

Printable fallback

All questions on one page, with static map images standing in for live maps. Key paper responses back in afterward.

Running a survey kiosk → · Three ways to invoke a survey →

Design

An onboard survey has about ninety seconds.

The constraint that governs everything about intercept design is that the respondent is going somewhere. A twenty-question instrument that works fine in an emailed panel will be abandoned at question four on a bus. What survives:

Six questions or fewer, with the one you most need answered placed first.
Tap targets, not text entry. One open-ended box at the end is fine; three is not.
A map instead of a route list. Riders recognize their line on a map far faster than they find it in a dropdown of route numbers.
The profile step last, and optional. Asking who someone is before asking what they think is the single most reliable way to lose them.

Building surveys that get completed →

Anonymous by default

A scanned QR response carries no identity unless you ask for one. That is usually the right call for intercept work — requiring identification suppresses participation exactly where you can least afford it, and sensitive topics like perceived safety need the anonymity to get honest answers at all.

Verified vs. anonymous responses →

Common questions

Do riders need to install anything?: No. A posted QR code opens the survey in the phone's browser. There is no app, no account, and no login step — which matters enormously for completion rate when you are asking someone to participate during a ten-minute bus ride.
How does kiosk mode work?: Kiosk mode runs one survey full-screen and unattended on a tablet. After each respondent submits, it resets automatically for the next person, and leaving kiosk mode requires a code so a passer-by cannot wander into the rest of the device. Pair it with iPad Guided Access or Windows Assigned Access to lock the hardware down entirely.
Are QR responses anonymous?: By default, yes — a rider who scans a posted code has no identity attached. If you want identity, enable the pre-survey profile step and ask for an email address; the post-submit confirmation email then carries a one-click verification link. You control which profile fields appear and which are required, so you can ask for zip code only, or email only, or nothing at all.
What stops one person filling it in repeatedly?: Where an email address is collected, TIPS deduplicates on it across every channel — so the same rider scanning an onboard code and clicking an email invitation counts once. For fully anonymous collection there is no way to identify a repeat respondent by design, which is the trade you make for the higher response rate. Kiosk mode mitigates it in the physical world by resetting between respondents in a staffed setting.
Can we still use paper?: Yes. Every survey has a print view that lays all questions out on one continuous page for paper collection, including static map images for route questions since a live map obviously will not print. Paper responses get keyed in afterward through the same survey.
Where should the QR codes actually go?: The pattern that works is placement where a rider is already stationary and slightly bored: seat backs and stanchions on the vehicle, shelter panels and platform signage at stops, and the back of transfer slips or fare media. Put the survey's purpose in one line next to the code — scan rates drop sharply when the code has no stated reason attached to it.

Print a code and try it on your own commute

Start a trial, build a five-question survey, generate the QR code, and scan it yourself on the platform. You'll know within one ride whether the instrument is short enough.

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